In memory of historian Derek Wilson

Here at the Tudor Society, we are so very saddened to hear of the death of historian and author Derek Wilson on 5th February 2024 at the age of 88.

After studying at Peterhouse, Cambridge, Derek worked as a history teacher, historian and broadcaster in Kenya for several years. He was awarded the Archbishop Cranmer Prize at Cambridge in 1968, for his postgraduate work “John Lascelles and Anne Ayscough: A Study in the Spread of Protestantism among the Gentry of Court and County”.

Derek’s career as a historian and author saw him publishing over 50 books, both non-fiction and historical fiction. He was a leading historian of the Tudor period, including books on the Reformation, Henry VIII, the Dudleys, Sir Francis Walsingham, Robert Dudley, and Holbein. He also wrote the Thomas Treviot trilogy of historical thrillers under the name D K Wilson.

My personal favourites of his are "The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black Legend of the Dudleys", "In The Lion's Court: Power, Ambition and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII", and his Thomas Treviot books.

Derek did a talk for us back in 2015, in which he discussed his love of factual and fictional history, and how interpretation can change the perspective of events in a dramatic way.